


Small beginnings

by AlmightyMirage



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: By eventual I mean chapter 5, Chapter 5 is straight up porn, Developing Relationship, Eventual Smut, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2019-09-19 14:19:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17003277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlmightyMirage/pseuds/AlmightyMirage
Summary: Nate and Elena explore the early stages of their relationship, from the start of Drake's Fortune and until Among Thieves.





	1. Every story has a beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I'm gonna be honest with you, I wasn't really sure where I would be taking this fic. My idea with this first chapter was to give some sort of insight into the thoughts of both Nate and Elena during the events of Drake's Fortune. That eventually developed into sort of a recap, with some of their thoughts added to it. My plan is to make this a multichapter fic exploring the beginning of their relationship, so future chapters won't be written like this one. The fic will be jumping a bit back and forth between Nate and Elena's perspectives, but I've attempted to make it fairly clear which one is which, without explicitly saying so, and I hope that works.
> 
> I feel like most of the fics in this fandom in later years has been either about their relationship post-UC4 or focused about Sam, Chloe or Nadine, so I wanted to write something a little bit different from that, rather than just the domestic bliss. Rating might be bumped up in the future.

"Sorry you didn’t get your story.”

“Nah, that’s alright, there will be other stories. You still owe me one."

“I’m good for it.”

Nate wasn’t exactly sure in that moment _what_ that story would be, but he knew that he did want to provide the small blonde he was holding with a story. Before meeting Elena, Nate had pretty much assumed that she would be a typical tv-presenter – good at asking questions, but gullible enough to get conned, and not interested in getting her hands dirty. He quickly learned that his initial assumption couldn’t be further from the truth, after she wielded a gun without much issue, and delivered a wicked right hook to his face. All he actually knew about her before meeting with her was that she produced her own show and ran all the equipment herself, indicating that she was at least somewhat capable, and that she was an attractive woman, though probably not his type based on his previous history.

But even after Elena proved every assumption Nate had about her wrong, he didn’t expect this, whatever this was. And what was it really? Elena had impressed Nate during their first escape from Roman’s mercenaries, showing him yet again that she was more than capable, and determined to get her story. A part of him still would’ve liked to send her away, but he knew that there was no way to convince her to leave, despite all the danger they would be stepping into. But after being shot down and seeing her parachute far away in the distance, he realized that he kind of liked her, and needed to find her again, before it was too late.

When Elena received the proposal from this “Nathan Drake” claiming that he would find the coffin of his supposed predecessor Sir Francis Drake, a man who wasn’t known to have any children, as long as her show funded the expedition, she automatically assumed that it was a _massive_ scam. After meeting him and his “business partner” and friend Victor Sullivan, known as Sully, she was even more convinced that they were con artists, the whole thing didn’t add up. But while they didn’t seem trustworthy, and she doubted Nathan’s story about how he’s related to Sir Francis Drake, the coffin being somewhere off the coast of Panama did make sense, given his known adventures in the area. And if they did find the coffin, then it wouldn’t really matter if Drake’s story about his heritage was bullshit, would it?

And it turned out that Drake’s story was true – sort of. It even seemed like it would lead to even more material – this story could potentially turn into the best Elena had ever done. And before had even got off the phone with her editor to brief him about it and request a film crew, she was left standing on a dock in the middle of nowhere, seething in anger. They really had scammed her, they only wanted her to fund the boat and equipment they needed to do the initial part. She quickly decided that she’d track down that handsome con-artist and his elderly friend just to punch them in their smug faces.

Punching Nate felt good for her, she had proved to herself and him that she was determined to get her story, no matter what. And then he’d pulled her in towards his chest to shield them from view from Roman’s men. He smelled like sweat and dirt, but somehow it was comforting. Then he told her that Sully was dead, shot and killed after an encounter with a man known as Gabriel Roman. In an instant, all her anger towards him disappeared. It didn’t matter now, they had to get off that island, and then figure out their next move. As they fought their way back to the Jeep, she could tell that Nate was affected by his loss, and she couldn’t help but feel bad for him, despite him ditching her earlier. Once they got back to the plane, she resumed filming, she did need material, after all. After that, everything was a blur. They were shot out of the air, and had to jump out of the plane in a hurry. She had no clue where Nate had ended up, but she herself had ended up in a very old fortress, with some new inhabitants that she figured belonged to Roman. She had no idea how they had gotten there so fast, but it didn’t matter, she had to hide before they found her.

_A while later..._

“I know I’m not a bigtime treasure hunter like you, but I doubt you’re gonna find El Dorado in there. How’d you get yourself in this mess?” Elena teased, after waking up Nate by throwing pebbles through the iron bar window.

“Trying to rescue you, as a matter of fact.”

“Oh, that’s so sweet. Traditional sandstone brick and stucco, limestone mortar… huh.” Elena said, almost thinking out loud.

“How’d you get to know so much about this?” Nate asked, genuinely curious as to what she was thinking.

“My show – episode 4, “Architects of the New World”. Yup, it’ll just take a tug to pull these bars out.”

“What? No, wait… are you sure?”

Before Nate knew it, she had run away, and an old nemesis in the shape of Eddy Raja had appeared with his gold-plated gun, offering him a deal with the promise that last man alive got the gold - and the girl. “How much trouble could one girl be?”, as he had asked rhetorically, right before Elena pulled down the prison wall, leaving him frozen in place and shocked until he realized what had happened.

After that, everything happened in full speed; they escaped in a hurry, and ended up jet skiing their way to what seemed like a port. Once they got away from Eddy, Elena showed Nate video tape of Sully being alive and well, with Roman. Nate wasn’t sure what to think about the revelation about Sully, but he had started to take a liking to Elena. She wasn’t anything like what he had assumed, she was headstrong, determined, smart, and actually a good shot. He couldn’t claim to know her, but he really liked what he had seen so far. He tried to convince her to leave with him after their initial escape from Eddy Raja, but she only got annoyed at him trying to use her as an excuse for why he wanted to leave. He knew she was right, she didn’t need protection, and they couldn’t just give up now.

_Shortly afterwards, at the docks.._

She had lost her camera. Gone. Everything she had worked for, smashed against a rock, all because she’d been careless walking over an old rope bridge. All that great material gone, the best episode she’d ever done had slipped right out of her hands. Part of her wanted to just give up then and there, but she couldn’t. Even if she couldn’t document it, this island was a mystery she had to get to the bottom of. And while she didn’t really know either of them, she wanted to track down this Sully-guy, find out how the hell he was alive after Nate claimed he had been shot and killed. And Nate? She wasn’t really sure what to think of him right then and there. She’d deducted that he had way more experience in this shadier part of treasure hunting than he had initially let on, and part of him was still a mystery, but she had taken a liking to him. He wasn’t a bad guy or anything, and she understood that he wanted to keep her safe, which was somewhat sweet, despite her insistence that she didn’t need it. 

Together they decided to take another jet ski Raja and Roman’s men had left behind – they really did a poor job guarding the expensive equipment they left all around, and used it to get upriver. Somehow, they managed to get up there without being killed by explosive barrels or all the men stationed at various areas by the river, and got themselves up to an old monastery, a place which had an eerie vibe to it right away. The place was crowded with mercenaries, and broken down enough that moving around there required a bit more climbing skills than she had, leaving her alone in a small courtyard while Nate was trying to open a path for her. While she had insisted that she didn’t need protection or saving, she had to admit to herself that she was uncomfortable there. There was something off about the whole place, and being camped up there with only one way in or out didn’t exactly make her feel safe. Though she refused to be any sort of damsel in distress, she’d rather stick around with Nate than with the mercenaries, so she wanted him to get back quickly.

_At the monastery.._

Nate was pleased that he found a way to open the gateway to the bigger courtyard fairly quickly. He knew by now that Elena could handle herself with a gun, but he’d rather have her close regardless. He’d be damned if he allowed Eddy to get a hold of her, and treat her like she was some sort of prize for himself. Nate knew she by no means belonged to him either, but he wouldn’t let that sick freak Eddy near her regardless. By now, Nate had to admit to himself that he was pretty taken with Elena. Her quick wit and sense of adventure had both surprised him and amazed him, she was a pleasure to traverse the island with, at least considering the circumstances. She didn’t seem mad at him anymore either, and seemed to trust him despite being left at the docks far away from here barely a day earlier. Or at least he thought it was around a day, it was a bit hard to keep track of it all by then.

If the initial courtyard they found was eerie, then this bigger one was outright scary. It was a big space, with its own church and library, and plenty of buildings. The area definitely had architecture that looked like it came from the Spanish settlers, but the size of it made it an even bigger mystery. How could a place this big become completely deserted, with no official records of it ever existing, and no signs of anyone ever fleeing from it? What the hell had happened here? Nate figured he’d find out eventually, but right now he wanted to find Sully, and ask him how the hell he was alive. 

And as it turned out, Sully was alive and well inside the library. And after a small shootout with the mercenaries there, Nate finally got to ask how, or in the worst case, why he was alive. Luckily his worst fears were debunked, Sully hadn’t betrayed him, the shot had hit the journal of Sir Francis Drake, the one they had found in the coffin, and it had the bullet hole to prove it. Sully revealed that he had convinced Roman that he could be useful to him, and had been sending the mercenaries on various goose chases in order to waste their time, and buy time for himself, in hopes of being rescued. 

Using said journal, Nate was able to solve a riddle in the library, and found a hidden room, with another path leading down into some underground passages. Elena also seemed convinced enough that Sully was telling the truth and that she wouldn’t be ditched again, which relieved Nate, as he knew that she could trust him fully now. Sully obviously didn’t really know how or why they had ended up reuniting, but he understood that Nate wanted her around, which was good enough for him. Deciding that the hidden room was a good enough hiding place, Nate managed to convince Elena and Sully to stay there while he explored the underground passageways.

Elena had to admit that Sully wasn’t that bad either. Naturally she had assumed early on that he was just as shady as Nate had seemed, and even found it a bit weird that the two were partnered up given the difference in age. Seeing him with Roman after Nate had claimed that he had been shot and killed didn’t help either. Nate seemed spooked enough that she didn’t really think he was lying about it, so the obvious though running around in Elena’s head was that Sully had faked his death to Nate to get rid of him, for some reason. After discovering the truth however, and going through books in the library with him while Nate was out “exploring”, she realized that Sully was a nice guy, despite admitting that leaving her at the docks was his idea. She didn’t like it, but she understood it, and accepted his apology. 

Part of her was worried about Nate while he was away, she knew these mercenaries weren’t messing about, and while Nate was more than capable of protecting himself, one man against a small mercenary-army wasn’t exactly great odds. Keeping touch through radio with Sully though, she knew he was okay while she and Sully looked through the books in the library looking for hints about where Nate should look. Before long though, Nate was back with them, with another lead they could follow, inside the mausoleum. Unfortunately, it turned out that the pathway in the mausoleum had a trap door, leading to her and Nate getting separated from Sully yet again. At least this time she knew that he was on their side. 

The underground passageway turned out to be far bigger and freakier than any of them had imagined. While Nate was solving the puzzle they found early on, she kept hearing something. Some sound, indicating that there was something down there outside of her and Nate. Once they found Eddy Raja’s soldiers in the next room, Elena calmed down. Maybe it was them that just made some weird sounds. But she could swear that she had seen movement too, and not movement from Nate. Once they managed to get rid of the soldiers, they found a circular room that looked like it could have been the treasure vault, which this pathway was supposed to lead them to.

But there was no treasure there, only a dead body which had to belong to Sir Francis Drake. The look of disappointment in Nate’s face was apparent to Elena. “So much for greatness”, he had said as he took off the ring he’d been carrying around on a piece of string hung around his neck, and put it on the dead body. Elena understood Nate’s disappointment, but figured that he would miss the ring soon enough, so she grabbed the ring while Nate was looking at something else, not to spite him or to undermine his gesture, but to give back to him later as a memory of sorts.

Then they heard it again, sounds from something that wasn’t familiar to them, and Eddy Raja and his mean shouting, seemingly terrified of something. Nate barely had time to boost Elena up an old, rusted ladder before Eddy Raja and his men burst into the room, claiming that “we’re all dead”, while Elena was working on a way to help Nate, and preferably only Nate up. And then they appeared. These…. creatures, whatever they were, grabbed hold of one of Raja’s men and pulled him down into a hole. But there wasn’t just one, suddenly they started appearing from everywhere, like they had been hibernating and woke up from the sound around them. And these weren’t friendly creatures, they were out to kill, and in an unexpected turn Nate and Raja teamed up fend off the creatures, while Elena worked on getting some old, rusty mechanism into place to hoist Nate up. She couldn’t just let Nate die, not after all this.

As Eddy killed one of the creatures, she heard him proclaim “Don’t mess with Eddy Raja” right before he screamed. She didn’t know exactly what had happened, but Nate was all alone, so she really had to speed up. With the skin of his teeth, he managed to grab hold of the rope attached to the hoist Elena had put into place, and climbed up at a rapid pace. They ran as fast as they could away, to some large metal door, that looked terribly out of place, but that didn’t matter right then and there. They barely got through it and shut it as the creatures crashed against the door.

It all made sense to Nate now. The German submarine he had found, with the clues leading him to this place. This was a German submarine base, long abandoned after the war, with rust to show for it. There was an elevator there, but naturally they needed something to power said elevator in order to get back to the surface. He didn’t like leaving Elena in the control room while he went off looking for the generator room, but there was no other way to get there than to climb across, and Elena couldn’t do that. 

Getting to the generator wasn’t too hard for Nate, apart from a few of those creatures walking around in the hallways. As soon as Nate got to the elevator and started it though, all hell broke loose. Yet again seemingly waking from the sound, they swarmed to Nate, and he barely managed to get all of the power going, before barely getting out of the room and shutting it behind him. While walking back, Nate discovered a room with some videotape and a latter, signed Sir Francis Drake. The latter explained that these creatures were the result of some kind of curse originating from the El Dorado statue, and that he had destroyed the Spanish ships so that they would never leave the island. The videotape was German, and showed a clip of a person behaving exactly like the creatures, like he was transforming into them. 

But Nate had to get back to Elena. He wasn’t sure if his exact path would lead to her, but he had to try it, as it at least went in that general direction, or so he though. Unfortunately, he found himself in a control room – the one placed across the dry-dock from the room Elena was. And Elena wasn’t alone anymore, she had clearly been taken by Roman and his men, used as a hostage to discourage Nate from getting in Roman’s way. Nate couldn’t let that happen though, but he had to get back to the surface before thinking of a rescue, and he had to find Sully again.

Getting back to the surface wasn’t easy, but at least he could let the mercenaries handle some of the creatures before picking off the remaining ones. Somehow though, Nate was able to work himself back to the surface, and reunited with Sully who was under fire in the big courtyard. After helping Sully clear out the mercenaries from the courtyard, they entered the church in order to get into the catacombs beneath, so they could rescue Elena, and stop Roman from getting the cursed El Dorado statue off the island.

As expected, staging a rescue against someone expecting it to happen wouldn’t be easy. Nate and Sully walked right into a trap, to Roman’s joy. But his joy was short-lived, after his right-hand man, the man holding Elena at gunpoint, known as Navarro, told him that the real treasure of the statue was inside. Navarro obliged and opened the statue, only to be exposed to the virus that had turned the former inhabitants of the island into the creatures they were now. Roman understood what had happened right away, and turned to kill Navarro, only to get beat to the punch by Navarro himself. Taking command right away, Navarro ordered the statue lifted up from there, while dragging Elena with him, still holding her at gunpoint, while the creatures started appearing. Nate and Sully used the chaos as a chance to get a hold of a weapon, and Nate made a run after Navarro, while Sully provided covering fire. 

Elena was annoyed at herself for getting in this position, that she had been captured like this, and used as a hostage to keep Nate from doing anything. But as she was being forced into the helicopter, she knew she at least had a chance to foil Navarro’s plan, even if it did mean potentially dying. Hearing that Nate had been able to jump on the statue in flight, with Navarro ordering one his men to shoot him, Elena saw her chance, and kicked the mercenary out of the helicopter. By pure chance, the mercenary ended up shooting the pilot as he was flying, leading to the helicopter crashing onto a boat. After that, she blacked out.

Nate knew he had to get to the other side of the boat, and fast. He didn’t really know how, but somehow the helicopter had crashed, and he guessed that Elena had some part of it. On pure adrenaline, he managed to chase Navarro down, and cleared out all his men in the process. And there, at the far end of the boat, was Elena, seemingly unconscious in a helicopter that was situated right at the edge of the boat. Navarro refused to back down though, and somehow Nate had to get rid of him without a weapon, while Navarro was shooting at him. The odds seemed impossible, but it seemed like he had finally gotten him down, and Nate went to check on Elena and get her out of the helicopter before it fell off the edge. As he got her out of the helicopter, Elena saw Navarro getting back on his feet, alerting Nate, who in a great moment of improvisation spotted the rope around one of Navarro’s feet, and pushed the helicopter off the edge, dragging Navarro and El Dorado down with it.

“Quite a day.”

“Yeah, save the world, triumph over evil – pretty typical.”

“Really.” Elena chuckled.

“It’s a shame we’re leaving empty handed though.”

“Oh well, you know, I did manage to save one small thing” Elena said, placing Nate’s ring back around his neck.

“Thanks.”

“Yeah.” Elena said, before they both leant in towards a kiss

“You two have got a funny idea of romantic” Sully interrupted.

Though Sully ruined what probably would have been a kiss right then and there, and unveiled a good amount of gold to go with the ring, both Nate and Elena knew now that they wouldn’t just be leaving with that, they would be leaving with each other, whatever that meant, or what it could mean later. And quite possibly a story to go with it.


	2. Off the boat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a long boat ride, the trio arrives in a Costa Rican coastal town, in desperate need for some sleep, showers, and some space for their own thoughts.

Seeing civilization again felt better than Elena had imagined. After escaping from the El Dorado-island by boat, the trio of Elena, Nate and Sully had set course for Costa Rica, in hopes of unloading the gold Sully had acquired from some long-forgotten pirates. After all, arriving on US soil in a small boat loaded with gold would seem fairly suspicious. Elena had originally suggested they go to Panama, as this weird adventure had begun right off the coast of Panama originally, but Nate seemed to heavily resist the idea, without specifying _why_. Sully had just stayed silent, but gave a look to Elena indicating that she should just drop it, and so she did. 

And so here they were, nearing a medium-sized Costa Rican town according to the GPS installed in the boat, with the sun slowly rising in the horizon. Elena needed this, she thought to herself. She needed to see a town, and some different faces than Nate and Sully’s. Not that they had bad faces, “Nate does have a pretty nice face” she mumbled to herself where she was standing, alone at the rear of the boat, hoping Nate didn’t hear that, it’d probably go straight to his head if he did hear it. But more than anything, she needed to get out of this goddamn salty sea breeze and scorching sun, if only to find something to calm down the sunburns she had acquired. She’d probably be willing to give away her whole share of the gold for an airconditioned hotel room, fresh water and sleep by now. Suddenly, she was snapped out of her thoughts, as Sully docked the boat. “You two try to find us a goddamn hotel nearby, while I stay here to watch over the goods and try to find out where we can sell it off – and make sure it has some goddamn air-conditioning!” Sully ordered, ushering her and Nate off the boat.

As they were looking for a hotel, Elena started to lag behind, looking increasingly tired. “Are you okay? You don’t look too good.” Nate asked with worry in his voice. “I’ll be okay, I just need to get out of this sun and drink some fresh water, don’t worry about it.” Elena responded, sounding less than convincing. “Okay, but just stop if you need to. Shouldn’t be too long until we find a hotel.” Nate said, thinking to himself that he needed to keep an eye on her, just in case. After a few minutes, Nate spotted a sign belonging to a hotel. “Look, there’s a hotel right there.” Nate said, as he turned around to see Elena nearly collapsing. “Oh crap, oh crap, I’ve got you, we’re nearly there Elena.” Nate said as he closed the short distance to her and grabbed her before she collapsed fully, putting one of her arms around his shoulder. “Come on, just a short little walk, we can get there” he encouraged, while helping her along. “Thank you.” Elena muttered, almost wordlessly.

After that, Elena didn’t really catch what happened. Somehow, Nate had helped her into the hotel lobby and gotten her some water, before getting three hotel rooms – after confirming that they all had functioning air-condition. Somehow, he had done all that in fairly fluent Spanish, but she’d have to ask him about that some other time. Pretty impressive for a treasure hunter, or an “acquirer of rare antiquities”, as someone he knew apparently had described his profession as. Once again, she was snapped out of her thoughts, as Nate approached her. 

“Feeling better?” he asked as he sat down beside her on the reception couch

“Yeah, thanks again for taking care of me” Elena replied with a slight smile on her face. 

“Yeah, no problem. By the way, reception said that the first room is ready right now, want to head up there?” Nate said, not exactly sure how to respond to her thankfulness

“Sure, think I need to lay down a bit.” Elena replied, yawning even at the thought of some sleep.

“Alright, I’ll follow you up there.”

A short walk and some stairs later, they were on the third floor, where Elena’s room was.

“Here we are, and here you have the key.” Nate said, as he handed over the key to Elena.

“What about you, what are you going to do until your room is ready? If you want, you could wait in here with me?” Elena suggested to him, as she opened the door and stepped slightly inside.

“Eh, I think I’ll go check on Sully, inform him that we found a hotel for us and check if he’s found any leads on selling the gold.” Nate replied quickly, while leaning on the doorframe.

“Oh, okay..” Elena replied, almost sounding disappointed.

“Oh, and speaking of the gold, want to meet back up at the boat in a few hours? Would be nice to get a picture of the three of us with it before we sell it.” Nate said, not picking up on Elena’s slight disappointment.

“Yeah, sure, that’d be nice, at least we’d have _some_ documentation of this trip, even though we probably can’t show it to anyone.” Elena laughed.

“Hah, yeah. I’m good for another story you know, it’s the one thing I do well.” Nate laughed with her.

“I can imagine.” Elena said with a smile.

“Oh, by the way, you should probably have this on you around here, better safe than sorry.” Nate said, while handing over a 9mm gun to Elena.

“Thanks, good thinking.” Elena said, while checking the weapon, making sure that the safety was on.

“Right, see you later then”, Nate said, while turning to leave.

“See you cowboy.” Elena replied.

As soon as Nate was out of sight, Elena closed the door, and made sure to lock it. As much as she knew she needed a shower, she didn’t care right now. She just wanted to lie down in bed and sleep a little bit before she’d meet up with Nate and Sully later. But she couldn’t really get Nate out of her head. Why did she feel disappointed when Nate had chosen to go check on Sully instead of hanging out her in room? It was perfectly reasonable of him, he probably didn’t want to sit around while she slept, and he needed to go check on Sully, and she knew it. But despite all that, she wanted him nearby. This treasure hunter, who was definitely involved in some criminal activity, had somehow earned her trust despite deceiving her early on. And she couldn’t really deny to herself that he was handsome. And as far as treasure hunters go, he at least seemed like a good person, he didn’t seem like he wanted to do bad things, and he seemed to really care about her wellbeing, at least. But she’d have to deal with those thoughts later. Right now, she needed to get some sleep.

 

_A few hours later…_

 

“Hey there sunshine, feeling any better?” Sully asked as Elena approached the docks, where Sully had now unloaded the boxes of gold.

“Yeah, I feel a lot better now, thanks.” Elena replied quickly, before continuing: “Have you found out anything regarding the gold?” 

“Yes, Nate and I got in touch with a contact of mine in the area who was willing to fence it for us right away, so if things go smoothly, we can have our money quite soon.” Sully said.

“Speaking of Nate, where is he?” Elena asked in curiosity.

“Oh, he’s off getting a goddamn camera or something, seems like he wanted to document the three of us with the treasure. First all those logbooks of his, now he wants pictures too. Think your camerawork might’ve inspired him.” Sully chuckled.

“Maybe, but this time I won’t be holding the camera.” Elena laughed back.

“Look who’s out of bed.” they heard, as Nate approached the docks where Sully had loaded the cargo.

“Well, I couldn’t miss us documenting this treason now, could I?” Elena replied back, looking far happier than earlier in the day.

“And I found just the tool for the job.” Nate said, holding out the camera he had bought.

After a little while, they found a stranger who could take the picture for them. They ended up with Elena sitting on one of the crates filled with gold, while Nate, who for some reason held a shotgun for the picture stood on one side, while Sully, cigar in hand, stood on the other side of the middle crate. The three of them all agreed that the picture turned very well, or at least as well as three tired adventurers in desperate need of showers and some sleep could appear in a picture.

A few hours later, Sully’s fence arrived, as promised. Luckily, this turned out to be one of Sully’s more trustworthy contacts – even Nate wasn’t too sure after the whole Roman-encounter in the jungle, and so the deal went off without a hitch. The fence took a look at the gold, and payed the trio a sizeable sum for it all, which they decided to split between the three of them. A few days ago, Elena might have expected them to attempt to trick her out of the money, or steal it and leave her here, but by now she had her guard lowered. Somehow, she knew they wouldn’t pull anything like that on her ever again, perhaps due to the promise of a punch in the face, or perhaps because both Nate and Sully liked and respected her now.

After a short walk they all made it back to the hotel. Elena already had her key, and walked straight up to her room after wishing Nate and Sully a good night, while Nate picked up both of their keys from reception, to separate rooms, naturally. After saying goodnight to both Elena and Sully, Nate headed to his room on the third floor, after letting Sully get the second-floor room, and crashed straight onto bed. This had been a long, long day. After arriving in early morning, he had explored the town a little, taken care of Elena, got them hotel rooms, and tracked down a functional camera for them, before waiting to get all of the treasure sold. 

But at the end of it, his mind wasn’t on how long the day was, no, his mind was on this girl. That beautiful, blonde reporter that had completely blown him away in the previous days with her wit and abilities. He knew she was way too good for him, there was no way in hell a thief like himself had shot with a girl like her. But he couldn’t get her out of his head. He knew there was some attraction there, they had almost kissed before Sully had to ruin the moment, but had she only got caught in the moment, or was she actually interested? 

Staring at the ceiling much like Nate in another room on the third floor was Elena. Elena had felt awful much of the day, she’d been exhausted, dehydrated, and knew she needed to sleep some more. But her mind was stuck on that handsome treasure hunter that had left her on the docks in the middle of nowhere just a few days ago. The logical part of her thought that she shouldn’t trust him, he’s obviously involved in some criminal activity, and he had attempted to deceive her. But while travelling around the cursed island with him, she had learned to trust him. He obviously had his faults, but he wasn’t an outright bad person. He had treated her properly, protected her, and actually seemed like a good person. 

She’d started to like him a lot after a while, him and his goofy jokes. And despite his profession, he cared about history, he cared about what had happened there, much like her. He’d shown time and time again that he was far smarter than his unconventional style indicated. And the lengths he had gone to save her after Navarro captured her was way beyond what any normal person would do, he was just amazing. And now she was lying there, wondering why she had to fall for a guy she’d deemed a no-luck tomb robber just a few days earlier. She probably wasn’t even his type, he’d probably want to do a quickie and then move on to the next girl, he’d never settle down. But despite the warning signs, she couldn’t get him out of her head. But she’d have to explore that later, right now she needed the sleep. Tomorrow could be another long day after all.


	3. Breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio wakes up feeling refreshed, and has some slightly late breakfast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fairly dialogue-heavy, but sometimes it just be like that.

The sun was shining bright through the curtains as Nate finally woke up again. He didn’t know how long he had slept, but it felt like he had been asleep for a good while. Still a bit dazed, Nate grasped after his phone on the nightstand to find out. “1 PM, crap, I’ve slept for ages…” Nate mumbled to himself, while putting down the phone to rub his still half-closed eyes. After a few minutes, Nate finally decided to attempt to get out of bed. As he walked to the bathroom, Nate felt the results of all the action in the previous days. Until now, he had kept himself going on pure survival instinct and adrenaline, but after _finally_ getting a good night’s sleep, the pain had caught up with him, both the muscle soreness and a multitude of cuts and bruises. As he walked into the bathroom, Nate finally got look at himself properly in the mirror. “Ah crap, that’s gonna be some nice scars…new additions to the collection I guess.” Nate said to himself out loud, while turning to inspect the damage. After quickly undressing, he walked into the shower and finally cleaned himself up properly. It felt good for him to finally clean up, but the warm water on his beat-up body wasn’t the most pleasant feeling he’d ever had. “At least this place has warm water, been at worse hotels.” Nate thought to himself.

A few minutes later, Nate had gotten himself dressed, and was ready to go downstairs to grab himself some food. Walking downstairs, he hoped that it wasn’t too late for the free breakfast, despite it being a bit past normal breakfast time. “Look who’s finally gotten out of bed.” Sully remarked as Nate walked into the hotel restaurant. “Well off course you’re up early, you sly old bastard.” Nate quipped back, before continuing: “Think I deserved to sleep long this time though, don’t think I’ve been so tired before in my life.” Laughing a bit first, Sully replied “Yeah, I think all of deserved some sleep after that mess.” Shortly after, a waitress showed up and took Nate’s order – some egg and bacon, as he didn’t feel like trying the local cuisine that very morning. While waiting for his food, Nate realized that someone was missing. 

“Hey Sully, have you seen Elena today?” He asked after a few minutes of silence. 

“No, I thought she was with you?” Sully asked back, half-joking. 

“What?” Nate said, a bit taken aback.

“Oh come on, I’ve seen the way you two look at each other, and that almost-kiss of yours on the boat?” Sully said, laughing a bit at how flustered Nate was.

“You had to ruin that, didn’t you?” Nate replied, sounding a bit sour.

“Couldn’t let you reach the finish line right away kid.” Sully chuckled back.

“Yeah, well I don’t think anything’s gonna happen. Now that we’re out of that mess, she has a life and job to get back to, and there’s no room for a guy like me in that picture.” Nate said, sounding a bit dejected, while looking down at the wooden table in front of him.

“Don’t be so sure kid, you never know how things might turn out. She likes you, so don’t give up before you’ve even tried.” Sully said while reaching out a hand to pat Nate on the shoulder, trying to encourage him.

Replying with a simple nod and a slight tightening of the lips, Nate spotted the waitress of her way to him with his somewhat late breakfast, and went straight to work to fill up his way too empty stomach rather than keep talking about a subject that only made him feel sad. 

 

_Half an hour later_

 

“Hey there guys!” Elena said with a bright smile on her face, as she approached the table in the restaurant where Nate and Sully were seated.

“Feeling better today darling?” Sully asked right away.

“Yeah, finally getting some sleep made me feel a lot better, though I’m still a bit beat up. Think I need some food though, haven’t exactly been spoiled with that the past few days either.” Elena replied, looking over to a waitress, who swiftly approached her with a menu. 

“How were the eggs Nate?” Elena asked him, noting that he hadn’t spoken since she arrived.

“Uh, pretty good, felt like having something familiar after a good while away from home.” Nate said a bit rushed, as if he was broken out of his thoughts.

“Think I might have the same, surprised they’re even serving that this late though.” Elena said, while looking for it on the menu she was handed.

“I just asked them, probably not the trickiest thing to make when even _I_ can make it.” Nate said.

“Barely, I’ve tasted your overly burnt eggs before, kid.” Sully shot in, poking fun at Nate once again.

“Hey! I did manage to make some good ones eventually!” Nate argued, trying his best to defend his own cooking.

“Well, I can’t say I’ve tried out those yet, but I’ll take some eggs now.” Elena said with a smile, a bit amused by the interaction between Nate and Sully. “Can’t say I find it on the menu though, and my Spanish isn’t all that good. Think you could order it for me?” She asked Nate.

“Sure.” Nate said, calling the waitress over, explaining what Elena wanted to her.

“Thanks Nate.” Elena smiled at him. 

“So, kids, what are your plans for the day?” Sully asked the two of them after a brief little silence and some smiles between them.

“Haven’t really thought about it, guess I might go take a walk around town, and find out if they sell some adhesives anywhere around here.” Nate replied, with his mind on the many rashes and cuts he had acquired. He doubted that Elena was in much better shape either. Sully was probably fine though, he’d mostly stayed out of the worst action.

“Well, I’ve got a few phonecalls to make, my boss might think I’m dead after multiple days of no communication. I’ve also got to explain that I lost all I filmed, and not disclose what actually happened back there without getting fired. So that’ll be fun.” Elena said with a slight worry in her voice.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine, just say that pirates destroyed your camera or something, they’ll understand.” Nate comforted her. “What about you, old man? What are your plans?”

“Well, somebody needs to make sure that we get back to the states, so I’ll be looking into how and when we can get back there safely without having to get by airport security.” Sully said while checking his pockets. “Think I’ll check if they sell some good cigars around here too, seems like I’m out. I’m sure you’ll be okay though Elena, they won’t fire you over one episode gone wrong.”

“Yeah, I hope. I hadn’t really thought about how we would get back though.” Elena admitted. “But I’d rather not think too much about getting back to normal life right now, I need a break after all that.” Elena continued, while sighing. The smile from when she came by earlier had now completely disappeared, replaced with obvious worry as to how her boss would react.

“Well, if you want to go check out the town later and you need a translator, feel free to join me.” Nate suggested to her right away, looking to cheer her up a little.

“Yeah, I’d like that.” Elena said, now with slight smile on her face.


	4. A day in paradise

Sitting alone by the restaurant table, Nate looked over towards the small terrace where Elena stood, phone pressed up to her ear. She had been talking for quite a while now, long enough that Sully had wandered off, leaving Nate to twiddle his thumbs while he waited for Elena to finish up before they could go check out the town. As he peered over, he couldn’t help but wonder about what she was saying, or what she was thinking about as she spoke with what Nate presumed was her boss. He couldn’t see her face, as she stood with her back turned, watching out on the streets, but she seemed calmer now than when she first walked outside to take her call. He hoped that she got good news, no matter what that would mean for him, he just wanted to see her smile. Just as Nate was thinking about it, Elena finally put down her phone and turned around to walk inside again, and caught Nate looking at her. Nate instinctively started to look away, but then he spotted it that smile, that super-infectious, beautiful smile of hers, and he couldn’t help but look at her again and smile back, this time looking right into each other’s eyes.

“Enjoying what you’re seeing?” Elena said while walking over to where Nate was sitting, ending their little moment of eye contact without any words spoken.

“I…uhhh, yeah..” Nate replied, visibly flushed, and without the usual cheeky confidence he often displayed.

“Relax, it’s fine, really.” Elena laughed, assuring Nate that she didn’t mind. “Where’s Sully?” she continued, as she sat down on the opposite side of the table.

“He wandered off to do his errands, probably to buy his cigars.” Nate replied.

“Figures.” Elena replied quickly.

“So, I just ended up waiting for you really. Speaking of it, how did your call go?” Nate asked, curious as to what Elena had been talking about.

“It, uh, it went well. I obviously had to explain to my boss why I hadn’t made contact for a week or so, without saying exactly what happened.” Elena started, before Nate followed up with a question right away

“What did you tell him?”  
“Her. I told her that the same pirates as earlier gave us trouble, and that the equipment got destroyed by them. Didn’t mention the island or exactly where this all happened, but she seemed more concerned with my well-being anyway. Think she bought it.” Elena explained.

“Good, probably the best if we’re the only ones alive that knows exactly what happened there.” Nate chuckled.

“Also, I managed to get myself some extra time off. She initially wanted me to show up to therapy for trauma, but I managed to talk her out of that and got a extra week of holiday on top of the time I am supposed to have, which I’m taking right now, so that’s pretty sweet.” Elena continued with a smile on her face.

“Sweet, got any plans for how you want to spend your holiday?” Nate asked right away.

“Well, taking a few days off in Costa Rica with good company doesn’t sound too bad, then after that, who knows?” Elena said, now looking quite intently at Nate.

“Then I say we start enjoying the holiday right away, can’t stay in a place like this without at least checking out the town, right?” Nate replied, and started to get out of his seat.

“Agreed, lets.” Elena smiled back, and got out of her seat to walk out with him.

Outside, the mid-day sun was shining down on the small town of Puerto Jiménez, in what seemed like an ordinary summer day. The town was small, and thrived off tourism from Americans and Europeans alike that wanted to disappear to a smaller place, with the same good weather and warm-watered beaches as any other place frequented by tourists. For the trio, this was only a bonus, as it allowed them to blend in as tourists, and meant that the local hotels were decent. Strolling through town, Elena and Nate conversed lightly about the sights around them. Though not the biggest place, the small place had a certain charm to it. Soon enough though, Nate ended up at a stall selling trinkets, inspecting them all in case the vendor actually had something of worth without knowing.

“Nate, you can’t be serious, you had like a hundred various trinkets on you just yesterday, you don’t need more of them, and certainly not some fabricated trinkets worth nothing.” 

“You never know, sometimes these things actually are real. Not these ones though.” Nate replied, while he put down the trinket he was inspecting and told the merchant he wouldn’t be buying anything.

“Even if you did find anything, do you really need it though?” Elena asked while the two walked along the street, curious as to why Nate kept looking for trinkets despite being in the possession of multiple ones already.

“I guess it’s just instinct, I’m used to looking for things of value to resell.” Nate explained.

“M-hm, resell. Somehow I imagine you end up keeping quite a lot yourself.” Elena snickered, imagining how Nate’s apartment must look with all the stuff he collects.

“Okay, yeah I keep….some stuff, but not as much as you probably think. I like to keep some stuff as memories, but I’ve never really owned all that much stuff, hard to stay put in this business.” Nate admitted with a small laugh.

“How did you end up as a “collector of antiquities” anyway?” Elena asked, trying to dig a bit into Nate’s background.

Upon hearing this, Nate stopped in his tracks, surprising Elena. “I uh, it’s a long story. Basically I spent a long time tracking down Drake’s adventures, and the trinkets and other jobs sort of ended up as part of the deal, to earn some money.” Nate explained carefully, not willing to indulge _too_ much about his past.

Sensing that Nate didn’t want to talk about it, Elena decided not to press on. “Yeah, that makes sense.” She simply said in response to Nate’s small admission. 

 

_A few hours later…_

 

After some time walking around in the markets, and a visit to the local supermarket to buy various medical supplies to deal with the multitude of scrapes and bruises they had acquired, Nate and Elena made their way to the beach. Walking barefoot towards the water’s edge with Nate close behind, Elena stopped and peered out towards the slowly disappearing sun on the horizon, with the warm water covering her feet.

“I wish I could live on a beach like this, with warm water and soft sand just outside my doorstep.” Elena said, sharing her thoughts and dreams with Nate.

“I’d like that too, some quiet beach away from people, and maybe a boat to go out on the open waters sometimes.” Nate said in agreement, now standing right beside Elena in the water.

“Yeah.” Elena said, as she turned to face Nate, looking up at his face.

Nate had never really thought about settling down, he never really had that domestic bliss growing up, and after escaping from the orphanage and losing Sam, treasure hunting had become his only focus. A normal life just wasn’t meant for him, he had figured. But now, the idea of it didn’t seem too bad, at least when imagining it with Elena.

“Nate, you still here?” Elena said, snapping Nate out of his thoughts.

“Uhhh, yeah..just got lost in thought.” Nate replied, still adjusting to reality.

“What’s going on in that head of yours Nate?” Elena asked, looking up at him with a slight smile.

“You just got me thinking I guess, about my future. I’ve never really thought that far ahead, it’s always been the next job, the next goal. Never really had the chance to be domestic, and I’ve never really considered it either. But it sounds really nice thinking about it now, so maybe one day?” Nate replied, really opening up to Elena. He didn’t know why, he hadn’t really known her for long, but he trusted her. There were still things from his past he didn’t want to share, and had almost blocked off from his mind completely, but for the most part, talking to Elena felt safe. Like she wouldn’t hurt him or try to use anything against him, which was rare for the people he usually had around him, with the exception of Sully. 

“Yeah?” Elena replied, now smiling and almost looking expectedly up at him.

“Yeah.” Nate smiled back, looking back into her eyes.

For a little while they just stood there in the sunset, much like a few days prior, Nate looking down into Elena’s eyes, while she looked back into his. Slowly, Elena moved her hands upwards on Nate’s chest, while he moved his to hold her waist. Then, almost as if reading each other’s minds, Elena tugged slightly at his sweater, while Nate moved his hands up behind her head and leaned down, with Elena meeting tiptoeing up to meet him, still maintaining their eye contact. Now moving in unison, their lips met for a short kiss, before Nate pulled slightly back to look at her, as if seeking an approval. Elena didn’t leave any time for doubt, as she leaned up to him yet again to meet for another kiss, as they both closed their eyes and deepened the kiss.

After a while, they broke off the kiss and stood there for a while longer, until the sun finally disappeared fully on the horizon. The pair then fetched their shoes at the end of the beach, and walked along the water back to the hotel, while holding hands. Saying their goodnights and sharing another small kiss, the two went to their separate rooms both happy, and thinking about where they would go from here. There was an obvious attraction there, but would it only be a short fling? Elena wondered if Nate was the type to settle down, while Nate himself both doubted if his work suited anything resembling a relationship, and if Elena really wanted a guy like him long term. 

Lying on her back and staring up at the ceiling from her bed, Elena decided that it didn’t matter right now what it would lead to down the line, she wanted to enjoy it as much as she could right here and now. And so, she put on some clothes, and headed out of her hotel room yet again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think so far?


	5. Night of wonder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever the go-getter, Elena finds a solution to the unresolved sexual tension between her and Nate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5 is finally here, sorry for the long wait! 
> 
> This chapter is straight up smut. If you either don't like, want or can read content like that, then I recommend skipping this chapter. If you do read it, then I hope you enjoy it. It's my first attempt at writing NSFW content, so I'm not entirely confident about it, which is part of why this took me so long to write.

Nate was just about to take a shower when he heard a knock on his door. “The hell? What would anyone want this late?” he muttered to himself, before he exited the bathroom with a towel around his waist. “Who is it?” Nate said, with an impatient and annoyed tone. “It’s me Nate. Can I come in?” He heard from the other side of the door, and a smile formed on his face, realizing that it was Elena on the other side. “Uh, yeah, just give me a second to get dressed.” Nate replied after a brief moment of confusion, before putting the pants and t-shirt that he had discarded minutes earlier. 

“There we go, come in.” Nate said, as he finally opened the door for Elena. 

“Thanks, sorry that I interrupted you this late.” Elena said, as she stepped inside, seeing the towel hastily thrown on the bed.

“It’s no problem, was just about to take a shower, but that can wait.” Nate reassured her, closing the door behind her. “Sorry if I sounded annoyed, thought it was a hotel employee or something.” he continued.

“Oh, that’s fine. I just, uh, couldn’t seem to get comfortable in my room, is it okay if I stay here?” Elena said nervously, suddenly hesitating a little bit about what to say.

“Uh, yeah, sure. You can take the bed, I’ll grab the extra sheets and sleep on the floor.” Nate said, trying to appear as much as a gentleman as he could to make Elena comfortable. He sensed that she was nervous, but didn’t know or understand why.

“Eh, you don’t need to do that, really. You don’t need to sleep on the floor.” Elena tried to insist, seeing her plans go up in smoke.

“No-no, it’s fine, you take the bed. I’ll go take a shower, just make yourself comfortable in the meantime.” Nate said, laying a hand on her shoulder to reassure her that it was fine. With Elena only returning a slight smile at the gesture

As Nate went back into the bathroom with his towel in hand, Elena sat down on the bed, now increasingly frustrated at how this had ended up. She appreciated Nate’s intent, it really was kind of him, but this wasn’t why she was here. “Damn it.” she muttered to herself, as she heard the shower being turned on in the bathroom. “No, this isn’t how this night is gonna end up.” she reassured herself, as she stood up for the second time this night to take matters into her own hands, this time leaving no room for doubt.

Elena opened up the bathroom door cautiously, and peered inside. The bathroom wasn’t the biggest, with a shower and bathtub in one space. Behind the shower curtain, light was highlighting Nate’s figure, which was turned away from the entrance. Elena walked up to the shower-curtain, and pulled it away, shocking Nate a little. “Elena, what are you doing?” he uttered, mostly in surprise, instinctively covering up himself and turning off the water. “Joining you in your shower, I need one myself.” Elena replied with a smile while checking out Nate, admiring the arms and chest-muscles he had been hiding underneath his clothes all this time, with the hot water dripping off him. “That okay?” Elena then asked, bit unsure after Nate’s initial reaction. “Uh, yeah” Nate initially uttered almost inaudible, before clearing his throat. “Yeah, I’d like that.” He then said, starting to catch on to what Elena was doing, prompting a smile from her. 

Elena then took off her shorts and slipped off her tank-top, leaving only her underwear and bra, with Nate looking on. Elena noted that he wasn’t covering himself anymore, and even if he did, it’d be hard to contain the excitement the sight ahead of him gave his body. “Someone’s getting excited, huh?” Elena remarked with a smirk, no doubt pleased that just taking off her top had this effect on him. She then proceeded to step out of her underwear, and took off her bra, leaving her completely exposed to him. If he wasn’t already excited, then he was just about ready to explode in excitement by now, with his eyes now checking out the fully nude blonde in front of him. “Wow.” Nate simply muttered, but it couldn’t even come close to describing what he was thinking. She’s absolutely beautiful, he thought to himself. She wasn’t the height of a model, nor did she have the biggest ass or boobs, but to Nate, this was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and he wanted to get her in the shower with him right away. 

Nate reached out his hand to hers, and Elena held it while she stepped into the bathtub, facing Nate. Nate then couldn’t hold back anymore, and put his hand on the back of her head and leant down for a kiss of absolute _hunger_ , which Elena gladly returned. Pulling back after a while to catch her breath, Elena leant her forehead against his and smiled. The night was finally going like she wanted it to. “Nate, the water.” Elena then said, remembering that she probably did need a shower despite how much she wanted Nate on the bed right now. Nate fumbled to try to turn on the shower again without losing eye-contact with Elena, but eventually had to turn around to turn it on again, and hot water yet again poured down on them. 

Pleased with this, Elena initiated another deep kiss. This time, Nate couldn’t resist anymore, as he moved his free right hand down her back and onto her ass, the same one he had been stealing glances at the last few days while Elena was dressed in her shorts. Seeing and feeling it without anything covering it was even better than he imagined, and he enthusiastically gave it a soft squeeze followed by some firmer ones, eliciting a moan from Elena as they kissed. Pulling back slightly to regain their breaths, Nate kept softly grabbing her soft, round butt for a bit, before Elena grabbed his wrist and moved his hands upward on her front, giving him a wordless permission to explore her touch-starved body further. Nate made no resistance to the movement of his hand, and gladly complied by grabbing Elena’s now wet breasts with his right hand while squeezing lightly, liking how her soft breasts fit perfectly in his hand as he leant down again to kiss the beautiful smile off her face.

In a rare moment of brilliance, Nate broke the kiss and grabbed the soap with his left hand, and put some on Elena’s wet body. Nate then proceeded to rub down her upper body in soap, making sure to cover every spot, and producing more closed eyes and moans of pleasure from Elena as he rubbed and squeezed her soaped up breasts with affection. “Crap Elena, you feel so good.” Nate said, as proceeded to rub further down on Elena’s body, rubbing down her stomach, to her waist and around to her lower back, before settling his hands on her ass once again. 

Elena then took the soap, and squeezed some out on Nate’s chest, making him shiver at the contact of the cold soap to his warm skin. “So these are why you’re able to do all that crazy climbing.” Elena said matter-of-factly while she rubbed down his muscular body in soap, liking how his strong arms and chest felt. She then rubbed down his back, noting to herself how strong his back had to be, given how much he climbed with little effort shown. “You don’t feel too bad yourself.” She continued as her hands slid around to his ass, which she gave a solid squeeze. While Elena grabbed his butt, he pulled her even closer to him, prompting her to lay her hands on his chest and tiptoeing up for another deep kiss with Nate’s hard length pressing on her stomach. 

After breaking off the kiss mainly to catch their breath, Elena decided to grab his dick, first giving a few light and short strokes, before starting to stroke him slow and deep, eliciting a moan of pleasure from Nate. While Nate had been able to get himself off the night before by his own hands, feeling someone else do it for him was far better, especially when it was the girl he had on his mind the night before jerking him off with her smaller hands. Breathing far more rapidly and feeling like he couldn’t last much longer if she continued, Nate decided to return the favour, and turned Elena around. He then started kissing her neck, causing some low moans of pleasure from Elena, as she opened up her neck for him to kiss further. 

While continuing to kiss her, he first reached his left hand back up to her breasts, feeling her in his palm as he kissed her neck hungrily. Meanwhile, his free right hand found its way down towards Elena’s opening, first rubbing around the insides of her thighs for a bit, while gradually getting closer to his destination. He then put his thumb on her clit and starting rubbing slowly in small circles, producing a gasp. Elena could feel him pressed hard against her backside while his mouth and hands were all over her. She had no idea how he managed to do so, but she had no intentions of stopping his hunger. Feeling risqué, Nate stopped kissing her and slid a finger into Elena, while continuing to rub her clit with his thumb. “Ohmygod, Nate!” Elena muttered while gasping and moaning at the feeling of his finger rubbing her insides. Pleased by the reaction, Nate put another finger in. 

“Oh god, Natenatenate” Elena moaned with her eyes closed, as Nate kept fingering her, with his other hand still holding onto her breast. Feeling his fingers inside her was different from what she’d had before. She had obviously touched herself before, and had sex before, but his big hands felt both vastly different from her own fingers inside her, and the other men she had been with, as she hadn’t done this with any of them. This was different, a sort of mix of intimacy and pure hunger for each other that she’d never had before. Nate continued fingering her, both rubbing his fingers inside of her and taking them in and out of her to see what pleasured her the most. 

This continued for a bit until Elena put a hand on the hand Nate was fingering her with and a bit out of breath muttered “Nate, Nate, wait.” Nate instantly let go of her, and turned around with a look of uncertainty, wondering if he had overstepped his boundaries. “Too much?” he simply asked. “Nono, I just don’t want it to end so quickly.” Elena said before giving him a short kiss, seeing the uncertainty on his face. “Bed?” she then asked suggestively. Nate regained his confidence in an instant, and turned off the shower, stepped out of the bathtub, before lifting Elena up and out of it. Elena took the chance to give him another deep kiss, while holding her hands in the wet hair on his neck. 

After breaking off the kiss, Nate set her down, and grabbed the towel to dry them both off a bit. A bit more hastily this time, Nate used the towel to rub Elena, making sure to grab her breasts once again. “Mmm, you like those, don’t you?” Elena asked, already knowing the answer. “Mmmhm.” Nate confirmed. “But I also appreciate a nice view from behind.” He continued with a smirk, as he started drying off her butt. With any other guy this amount of touching might have been too much, but there was something about Nate absolutely worshipping her body that sent her confidence through the roof. Right then and there, she felt like she was the only person that mattered to Nate, it didn’t feel like a random hook-up. And at the same time, it wasn’t really a surprising that a treasure hunter like him was handsy and wanted to touch as much as he could. After all, she had seen him pick up every little item he could find that looked interesting. And couldn’t deny that he knew what he was doing with his calloused hands, she hadn’t felt this good just being touched, _ever_. As soon as she felt sufficiently dry, Elena grabbed the towel from Nate to return the service, making sure to rub over his muscular chest and arms, squeezing his pecs a little to return the favour. Mimicking Nate, Elena then took the towel around to his backside, squeezing it a bit while drying it off. 

After drying their hair quickly with the towel, Nate picked up Elena bridal style and carried her out of the bathroom, and put her gently down on bed, impatient to resume the action. With Elena lying on her back, Nate quickly straddled her and leaned down for a quick peck on her swollen lips, now feeling the effect of all their kissing. Elena expected a longer kiss, and frowned a bit when Nate immediately pulled back after the short peck. Nate had a plan in mind though, and started kissing her neck, and Elena leaned back her head right away to give him access, as he kissed her over and over. Nate then started moving lower, and moved back down to the breasts he had focused so much on earlier. This time first kissing around them, before putting his mouth on her nipple, twirling his tongue around it, before sucking a bit on it, producing a small moan from Elena. He then repeated the process with her other nipple, before kissing his way down her stomach, gradually heading south. Nate continued until he reached his destination, and started kissing around the insides of her thighs, simply prolonging the inevitable end of his journey. Nate then neared her entrance, but looked up at her face first, as if asking if it was okay. Elena simply nodded at him, not even sure why he felt the need to ask at this point (it was a bit sweet of him though, she thought to herself). 

Immediately, he started kissing the outside of her pussy, lightly sucking on it to see how she reacted. Her reaction to him sucking around her clit especially pleased him, her breath hitching slightly as he sucked harder at her sensitive spot. But he wasn’t going to tease her, as their foreplay had already dragged on quite a bit. He had expected her to grow impatient with him far sooner, but apparently, she had been fine with him taking his time and exploring her beautiful body completely with both his hands and mouth. His previous partners would’ve grown impatient with him and told him to get on with it by now, so he was grateful that Elena, whom he already adored, let him just explore and touch her like this. He hoped the foreplay had been good for her too so far, but he was going to reward her by ensuring that she felt great now, he thought to himself as he finally entered his tongue inside her.

Her breath hitched slightly as he put his tongue inside her. She’d had partners before, obviously, but they’d never gone down on her like this. None of them had been as touchy as Nate either, but that was beside the point. They’d never seemed too interested in pleasing her, more interested in just getting her wet enough to make it comfortable. But Nate, Nate was something else entirely. And she was loving it, she only hoped the taste wasn’t too bad for him, because she could certainly get used to this. And as her breathing quickened slightly when he hit a sensitive spot, she could feel him chuckle. He knew this made her feel great, and was so cocky about it, the bastard.

Licking her insides, he could properly feel the taste of her now, and he could feel how good she felt as she squirmed and breathed more irregularly when he hit certain spots and changed his tempo. She didn’t taste too bad either, certainly better than the last woman he had tried it with, but he tried to block that out of his memory as soon as it popped in. This was about Elena, and he was going to make her feel amazing. He could hear that she liked it a lot already, but wanted to make her go completely over the top before he was done. Therefore, he put his thumb on her clit again, and started rubbing in circles like he did earlier, while continuing to lick inside her. 

“Oh god, Nate, yes” she said as her breathing quickened even further, grasping his brown hair with her hands as he continued to go down on her. He seemed to know exactly how to make her feel great, and it was gradually starting to send her towards the edge as he continued to touch her clit while licking her now soaked pussy. “Yes, yes, yes Nate, more” she tried to say, now struggling to get her words out properly, she just had to make sure he didn’t stop.

Nate continued to go down on her, she had to be near her edge now he thought to himself. And he was determined to get her there, he wanted her to scream in pleasure for him, no matter if anyone in the other rooms could hear it. He could hear her muttering his name over and over now, barely intelligible. 

“Ahhhhhhhhh, Nateeeee!” she screamed out in pure pleasure, as she clamped her legs together in instinct at her orgasm. She felt him chuckle again despite having his head basically trapped, but damn did he have reason to, this was the best she had ever felt. She didn’t know how, but he had seemingly found exactly what she liked best.

“Wow, Nate. That was amazing, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He answered with some confidence, proud of his work as he sat up on his knees between her legs.

She ignored his cockiness for once, thinking he had earned it, as she pulled him down for a kiss. She could feel the taste of herself on his completely soaked lips, and it was something she could definitely get used to. 

“And thank you too, you’re breathtaking.” Nate said sincerely after pulling back from the kiss.

That earned him a smile, as she pulled him back down again for another kiss. After breaking the kiss again, she peered down to see that he was still hard, despite not really having been touched for a while. She reached down and gave him a few light tugs, then looked back up at him.

“Hmm, still hard. I see you’re ready for more.” She said while smirking at him.

“Mmm, but it’s fine, you don’t have to.” He answered, just happy that he made her feel so great.

“But I want to. I want you inside of me Nate.” Elena replied with hunger in her eyes, still with a good grip on his cock. 

Nate couldn’t really believe his luck. He had gotten her to her climax, and still she wanted more. Immediately, he rolled off the bed to search his drawers. Not finding anything, he started to search his clothes. Nothing.

“Crap.” He muttered to himself.

“What’s wrong?” 

“I don’t think I have any, uhhh, condoms.” He answered, frustrated with himself.

“Well shit. I don’t have any either. I thought you probably had some.” She replied, equally disappointed that their night might end on a sour note.

“I didn’t think that far ahead. I didn’t really think anything would happen, you came to my room, remember.” Nate said, excusing himself.

“True, then again, I didn’t either.” she said, before pausing. “You know what, screw it.” She then continued.

“Screw what?” Nate asked, confused as to what she meant.

“We’ll just do it without it.” Elena then suggested.

“You sure?” Nate asked, just to be certain.

“Yeah, just be careful.”

“You know me, I’m always careful.” Nate said, with a his cocky smile back.

“Nate.” Elena then said with determination.

“Okay, okay, fine. I’ll make sure to be careful.” He then ensured.

Elena then pulled him back down on the bed, kissing him deeply once again to get their focus back. She then grabbed hold of his dick again, now slightly softer after he thought their night was over, and started jerking him off again to get him hard. Feeling him getting harder, she bent down and put his cock inside of her mouth, to get it nice and wet. With Elena sucking him off rapidly, Nate struggled not to move his hips against her mouth, trying to make sure that she was comfortable. Once he felt properly hard and wet, she released him from her mouth and laid down on her back to let them both get a good look at each other while they did it. Nate then bent down to give her a short kiss, then grabbed her breast with his left hand and kissed the other one, before pushing himself back up so he was standing by the edge of the bed.

He then took his fingers near her opening and felt her wetness once again, happy she was still ready for him. “Mmmm, you’re still so wet” he said, Elena only smiled back at him and nodded for him to put it in. Nate then grabbed himself and slowly put the tip inside her, pushing gradually in. He could hear her breath hitching slightly as he pushed himself in, only going gradually in before pulling himself out again. He then quickly put himself inside her again, now pushing deeper, still slowly. His cock slid in nicely, her wetness alone making her work on his cock to lubricate him rather unnecessary. Her walls gripped his cock fairly tightly, but not enough to make it uncomfortable for him. 

“Feel okay?” He asked her, just to be sure.

“Yeah, you can move faster.” She replied.

Hearing her approval, Nate started moving more, gradually pushing in and out of her faster. After a few gradually quicker and deeper pushes, he felt himself reach her bottom, earning a moan from her. Now knowing that he fit perfectly in her, he started to push deep and hard into her. “Ahhh, you feel so good Elena.” he moaned.

Elena, already having reached her climax five minutes earlier, felt her tiredness disappearing again with his cock pushing inside her. Instinctively, she moved her hand down toward her clit and started rubbing it to pleasure herself even more in order to climax once again. Seeing her pleasuring herself while he fucked her was making Nate even more horny, as he continued to fuck her deep and hard. 

“Mmm, ‘lena, ‘lena, ‘lena” he moaned out, while Elena was nearing the edge once again too, moaning out “Nate, Nate, Nate” in return, as their moans clashed with the sound of him pushing into her wet pussy and their skin colliding. Nate kept going rougher, so aroused by the view of Elena with her eyes closed pleasuring herself while her breasts moved because of his movements, that he kept on pushing hard and fast into her in instinct. “Ahh, ‘lena I’m close” he muttered out after a bit, his pace starting to become erratic. A few seconds later, he pulled out of her in a hurry and jerked himself off quickly, cumming all over her stomach, before collapsing beside her on the bed.

Both exhausted and needing to catch their breath, they laid side by side on the bed for a few minutes facing each other, before Nate leant over to kiss her once again. Elena gladly returned the kiss, but then pulled back.

“I’d love to cuddle, but I think I need to clean up a bit.” She said, looking down at the mess Nate had left on her stomach.

Upon realizing, Nate smirked. “Guess we need another shower.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Do feel free to comment on the fic, no matter if it's with praise, criticism, or just some thoughts. I'm still very fresh to creative writing, so all feedback would be appreciated greatly!


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